At least three teachers have exercised their rights under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act by refusing to work in the new building. They’ve been assigned duties in other locations, school board administrators confirmed Wednesday.

A report was being finished Thursday outlining air quality test results and possible reasons why people are reporting irritated eyes, headaches and upper respiratory problems.

One reason may be that someone forgot to flip the switch on the school’s humidifying equipment.

There’s nothing wrong with the units. They would typically be turned on in October, but no one thought to do it until recently, Tri-County regional school board members learned at a meeting Wednesday evening.

The $20-million school is a LEED-certified building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and such buildings are designed to more efficiently use water and electricity, among other things.

On Thursday, the school board said the latest report will be made available soon on its website.

Test results indicate air quality falls within established standards as determined by the design program, according to a school board news release.

“Students are attending a school with air quality that meets international guidelines,” said the news release.

The safety of students and staff at the school is a top priority, it said.

But the new airtight school was not given enough time to air out and allow construction-related vapours to disperse, or off-gas, before welcoming students Sept.10, say some people.

As a result, levels of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds were discovered in the building, albeit at levels considered to be safe.

What seems to be happening is pretty typical for a new LEED-certified building, said Stephen Boudreau, president of Teritt Indoor Environmental in Porters Lake. He updated school board members and teachers Wednesday on test results.

It appears the school had not yet reached a proper balance of air entering and leaving, Boudreau said.

The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union said Thursday that one would think the province would have learned to allow such buildings enough time to off-gas.

“If there hasn’t been proper ventilation and proper off-gassing, a number of people can get sick,” Shelley Morse said.

Staff were told they could refuse to be in the building for reasons stipulated by a doctor, she said.

“They were allowed to be reassigned to either other areas of the building or a different building altogether.

“The government seems to be opening these schools without the proper off-gassing … and it’s not the first time it’s happened in the province.”

She mentioned Citadel High School in Halifax where similar illnesses were reported among staff.

The union has been keeping an eye on the Yarmouth situation since November, she said.

“There are a few teachers off currently so I can’t speak to what that’s going to look like in the long term,” Morse said about what has been reported to be a growing number of substitute teachers being called in.

Education Minister Ramona Jennex said Wednesday that several substitutes were being seen at the Yarmouth school.

“I don’t want members to be sick,” Morse said. “We need to be at work. We need to have a safe environment to work in.

“I can’t imagine there aren’t students that would be sick if teachers are sick. Some students would be affected.”

She said she has not heard how staff morale may have been affected.

“But people want to be at work. They were looking forward to the new building.”